Vancouver Opera’s board of directors announced February 15 that Kim Gaynor will replace outgoing general director James Wright effective July 1.
Gaynor will oversee what has been a struggling organization that last year announced plans to condense its programming into a spring festival, starting in spring 2017. This year’s full-season schedule started in September with Rigoletto and continues until May, when Evita will be performed at Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
“The decision to make the transition to predominantly a festival format is a courageous one designed to ensure the future viability and vitality of the organization, and one which I wholeheartedly endorse,” Gaynor said in a release.
Gaynor, who is Canadian, has more than 30 years experience in senior positions with cultural and performing arts institutions and festivals in Canada, the United Kingdom and continental Europe.
She comes to Vancouver Opera from the Verbier Festival, which is an international music festival in Switzerland, where she has been managing director for the past 10 years.
“We have been blessed with a very strong leader in Jim Wright for the past 17 years and to find the right successor who will lead Vancouver Opera’s transition into its new festival format, while honouring its traditions, was a daunting task,” said Pascal Spothelfer, who is chairman of the Vancouver Opera board of directors.
“Kim emerged as the ideal candidate from our extensive international search and we are thrilled to bring her back to Canada. The opera company and the community will greatly benefit from her passion, managerial acumen and deep festival experience.”
